A Bengaluru court has sentenced a 36-year-old psychiatrist to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for abducting a newborn from a civic hospital and selling him for ₹14.5 lakh in 2020.
The convict, Rashmi Shashikumar, a resident of Nagarbhavi, was also fined ₹1 lakh by Judge C B Santosh, news agency PTI reported.
According to the report, Rashmi, who had been out on bail, was present in court when the verdict was delivered on February 19. She was immediately taken into custody and sent to Bengaluru Central Prison.
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Case history
The case dates back to May 29, 2020, when a newborn was stolen from the BBMP Hospital in Chamarajpet. The baby’s mother, who had recently given birth, fell asleep after taking prescribed medication. When she woke up 45 minutes later, her child was missing. A police complaint was filed, but it took nearly a year to locate the baby and arrest Rashmi.
On May 29, 2021, police tracked the child to a couple in North Karnataka, who had been deceived into believing the baby was born through surrogacy. Officers arrived at their home on the day they were joyfully celebrating the child’s first birthday, unaware of the deception.
{{/usCountry}}On May 29, 2021, police tracked the child to a couple in North Karnataka, who had been deceived into believing the baby was born through surrogacy. Officers arrived at their home on the day they were joyfully celebrating the child’s first birthday, unaware of the deception.
{{/usCountry}}The investigation was extensive, involving over 700 witness interviews, 300 CCTV recordings, and the analysis of 5,000 phone call records. Based on CCTV footage, police developed a suspect sketch, which ultimately led them to Rashmi and the unsuspecting couple.
According to the chargesheet, Rashmi had met the couple in 2015 while working at a private hospital in Hubballi. They had a child with special needs, and Rashmi convinced them that surrogacy could help them have a healthy baby. In 2019, she collected biological samples from the father, falsely claiming she had found a surrogate mother in Bengaluru, and took ₹14.5 lakh from them, promising a baby by May 2020.
As the deadline approached, Rashmi identified BBMP Hospital as her target due to its lax security. She visited the maternity ward multiple times before executing the abduction. On May 29, she instructed a hospital attendant to give the mother sleeping pills. Once the mother was unconscious, Rashmi took the baby and left. She later handed the child over to the couple at a friend’s house in Vijayanagar.
The trial saw emotional testimonies from both the biological parents and the North Karnataka couple, who had unknowingly raised the child for a year. While the biological parents had lost hope of ever seeing their son again, the woman who had cared for him was heartbroken upon learning the truth.
Public prosecutor B H Bhaskar confirmed that DNA tests proved the child's parentage. Additionally, bank records showed that Rashmi had received ₹14.5 lakh from the couple, while phone and mobile tower data placed her at the hospital on the day of the kidnapping. These pieces of evidence were crucial in securing her conviction.